Colossians 3: How To Live In The New Life That God Gives

Colossians 3 goes deeper into righteous living, and how we as Christians need to act. In today’s age, many people consider a lot of beliefs to be old and antiquated. However, I believe that to be dangerous, and shallow thinking.

God has given us instructions, and sin back then is sin today. Just because it’s accepted by society doesn’t mean it’s accepted by God.

However, we have to keep in mind as Christians that we need to act in love. Bullying, name-calling, and yelling at people should NEVER be in our nature.

We should love people, but it should also be tough love, where we can tell them the truth, and still accept them.

Colossians 3: Living Because You’ve Been Made Alive In Christ

3 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. ² Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. ³ For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

⁵ So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. ⁶ Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. ⁷ You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 

⁸ But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. ⁹ Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. ¹⁰ Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. ¹¹ In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

Colossians 3:1-11

This part of Colossians 3 goes over how we need to live our lives following Christ. The first few verses are very telling.

We need to set our sites on the reality of heaven, many Christians think in terms of today or the here and now. However, we should be more focused on the kingdom of God.

People’s souls are what matters, not the 70 years we spend down here on earth.

I’ve seen a lot of church people switch from saving souls to helping people improve their lives. But what good is helping the people with their physical needs, and not taking care of their spiritual ones?

What good is a nice pillow and a roof over your head if the house is about to collapse into a sinkhole? People are dying and going to hell, but at least they are fed and clothed (temporarily) right?

I’m not saying all churches/Christians are doing this. My main point here is that we shouldn’t forget the soul while we’re helping people.

Helping people find Jesus is the single most important thing we should be doing because Jesus is the way the truth and life. Everything else is good because it can help give inroads to talk about Jesus, but these things are secondary.

Their connection to God is what matters. So let’s stop being earthly-focused and be heavenly-focused.

Colossians 3: God Chose You To Be Holy People

¹² Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. ¹³ Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 

¹⁴ Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

¹⁶ Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Colossians 3:12-17

God chose us all, and Paul gives us traits above that we should strive for when dealing with other people. We need to be loving, kind, and humble. Colossians 3 explains that point so eloquently too.

This is how we set ourselves apart from the world. The Bible even says they will know you by your love.

This chunk of verses in Colossians 3 is telling us to love each other and forgive as much as needed. Forgiveness is something we have lacking in our culture today.

There’s a lot of revenge, road rage, and holding onto grievances.

I’ve seen it develop in my own heart, and I’m not okay with that. We need to let things go, and we need to forgive. Without forgiveness, we are just like everybody else, because Jesus forgave us, and we did a lot worse to him.

Colossians 3: Instructions for Christian Households

¹⁸ Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord.

¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.

²⁰ Children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord. ²¹ Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged.

²² Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. ²³ Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 

²⁴ Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.²⁵ But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites.

Colossians 3:18-25

This text in Colossians 3 is very controversial today. Mostly because it talks about wives submitting, and slaves obeying.

I’ll start with the wives, you can’t read verse 18 and stop there. Verse 19 shows how a husband should be treating their wives. Paul states in Ephesians 5:25 that husbands should love their wives as Christ loves the church.

This means husbands and wives have a similar relationship to us and Christ. Jesus died for us, loves us, and guides us every day. He helps me focus on my businesses and helps me through my trials and tribulations.

I understand many people have a bad view of what a husband/wife relationship is, but don’t let that cloud the beauty of these relationships, and how God created them to be.

Colossians 3: Relationships And The Kingdom Of Heaven

Now for slaves obeying, this one was really hard for me to grasp, but in light of the entire chapter of Colossians 3, it makes sense.

God cares about your soul and reconnecting with him. He doesn’t care as much about your social status, who you know, and your desire to improve those standings.

Instead what he cares about is how much you love him, and your position to influence people and share the gospel.

If you’re a slave, how are you going to hear the gospel if not from another slave? Will a rich owner come in and teach you? Possibly, but your neighbor next to you who works alongside you has a better chance of reaching you.

Even so, we only live 70ish years down here, and eternity is forever, so whatever position we have, we must spread the gospel of Christ, whether slave or free (or any other spot), God has placed us in those positions, so we can share the gospel with someone.

Paul is a great example of this. God had him all over the place, and in Colossians 3 I think he’s trying to drive that point home.

Also, remember that slavery is never ok, unfortunately, it has existed for thousands of years, destroying billions of lives. Statistics today say it’s worse than ever before. The presence of God can destroy this evil, one way or another. So Keep spreading the gospel.

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